A Cambridge artist’s mural features the face of each military member who has died in Afghanistan.

Carolyn Wilson (left) and Laurie Dinning examine a 3-metre by 12-metre mural created by artist Dave Sopha to commemorate Canadian soldiers, sailors and air crew who died in Afghanistan. Trooper Mark Wilson, was killed by a roadside bomb in October 2006, at the age of 39. Corp. Matthew Dinning was also killed by an IED at the age of 23.

They are the fallen, but Dave Sopha has ensured they won’t be forgotten: all 156 members of the Canadian military who have died in Afghanistan since 2001.

The 63-year-old artist from Cambridge, Ont., has created Portraits of Honour, a 3-metre by 12-metre mural in oils featuring the faces of these fallen soldiers, sailors and air crew. It is travelling across Canada in a specially designed trailer.

Service club Kin Canada, which has helped Sopha mount the tour, hopes to raise more than a million dollars along the way with various events. The money will aid troops who return home injured, physically or emotionally.

There will be public viewings of Portraits of Honour at more than 100 locations across the country, many of them in hometowns of fallen soldiers. On June 2, it will stop in Orangeville. (For more details about the schedule of stops see the website, www.portraitsofhonour.ca).

The first official stop was Tuesday at the Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, where the body of Bombadier Karl Manning, the 156th soldier to die in Afghanistan, was repatriated. (Sopha has already sketched Manning’s face and will be adding him to the mural soon.)

Relatives of some of the soldiers featured in the mural visited the base in Trenton to attend the tour-opening ceremony.

For Carolyn and Carl Wilson, the face of Trooper Mark Andrew Wilson, their son, is easy to spot. The springbok pin on his beret stands out. They look fondly at their son’s portrait, which reveals a confident, kind-looking man in his prime.

“I used to call it an antelope,’’ says Carolyn Wilson, smiling at the memory, referring to the beret pin — an emblem for Mark’s regiment, the Royal Canadian Dragoons.

A few days before he died, Mark called their home in London to tell his parents about two friends who had just been killed in Afghanistan. His turn came on Oct. 7, 2006; at the age of 39, he became the victim of a roadside improvised explosive device.

It’s been “such a journey’’ of healing since his death, says Carolyn Wilson. The Wilsons appreciate the fact that, while the portraits honour the men and women who served, the tour will also gather proceeds that will help veterans.

Laurie Dinning, from Wingham, in Huron County, was on hand to see the portrait of her son, Corp. Matthew Dinning, who was 23 and serving with the military police when he was killed by an IED, along with three others.

“He was a good Canadian who believed in helping others … he and his troop members tried to make a difference in the lives of the people over there,’’ says Dinning.

She hopes the mural’s tour will remind Canadians of the sacrifices people like her son have made and ensure that they are not forgotten. The portraits are beautiful, she says.

It took Sopha more than 6,500 hours to paint the portraits.

The concept was inspired by an incident in December 2008 in which three soldiers lost their lives from a roadside bomb. Sopha thought such a piece would help ensure these men, and many others to follow, would be remembered.

He first discovered his artistic talents while recovering from a serious car accident in 1970 that left him with a broken back, Sopha says.

“I believe it was a gift given to me by God … I’ve had a good life and I want to be able to give something back. I want Canadians to look at our military men and women with pride.’’

To capture the faces accurately, he used mostly military-issued photos, occasionally augmented by family pictures. Most of his subjects are wearing berets — green, blue or red. Some beam smiles that jump off the canvas; others are serious and focused, or solemn and introspective. Many faces are young and eager, their lives just about to start.

The mural will be exhibited in Orangeville at the Alder Street Recreation Centre, 275 Alder St. It opens to the public at 2 p.m., with a ceremony at 7 p.m. For details, visit www.orangevillekinsmen.ca

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